To Carrie Twomey and Anthony McIntyre:
As writers and activists who have contributed in the past to The Blanket
and who had hoped, for a time, that it might play a positive role in
pushing forward the coalescing of a principled, anti-sectarian Left in the
north of Ireland, we write to disassociate ourselves completely from the
journal, and to request that the editors immediately remove from The
Blanket archives any articles or letters submitted by us in the past. While
the quality and the political integrity of The Blanket have been visibly
deteriorating for some time, the recent decision of editors Carrie Twomey
and Anthony McIntyre to re-publish deliberately provocative, racist
anti-Muslim cartoons, commissioned originally by the right-wing Danish
newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, is a step too far. In our view, their
publication marks the end of any positive role that The Blanket might play
in a world saturated in anti-Muslim prejudice, a world being dragged from
one bloody war to the next in the name of superior 'western civilization.'
The Belfast Telegraph commented yesterday that The Blanket was "known for
its anti-establishment views," but this decision is just the latest
confirmation that it has instead been transformed into the cyber-darling of
an establishment now set on permanent war footing. We will not allow
ourselves to be associated with such an endeavor at a time when people are
being assaulted in the streets, subjected to harassment by governments
across Europe, hunted down by Iraqi 'death squads,' kidnapped and tortured
in far-flung concentration camps, subjected to aerial bombardment and
chemical warfare, and shot down in their homes under the guise of bringing
'civilization' to the Muslim world.
Brian Kelly (Belfast)
Eamonn McCann (Derry)
Barbara Muldoon (Belfast)
===
Dear Editor
In the Sunday Tribune of the 12th March (page two) Suzanne Breen reports
that the controversial anti-Islamic 'Danish cartoons' are to be published
yet again on the Net by one Anthony McIntyre. As spokesperson for the
Belfast Branch of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, of which to
date he is still a member, I wish to place on record that we utterly
repudiate his intended action. He took this decision without informing any
of his fellow activists, despite the fact that the insulting nature of the
cartoons might adversely affect our continuing dialogue with the people of
Palestine. We find his action frankly inexplicable but would like to make
the position of our organisation absolutely clear.
The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign is a non-party,
non-denominational organisation. In principle we support freedom of speech
and are opposed to censorship. However, we are also opposed to racism in
all its forms and we regard these cartoons as racist. They conform with and
reinforce the racist stereotype of the Muslim (and by extension the Arab)
as terrorist. We reject as dishonest the claim that their publication
serves some progressive purpose. Given their offensive, provocative nature,
one wonders what on earth they were meant to achieve. It is doubtful
whether the Danish newspaper which first published them wished to initiate
a serious debate, any more than the 19th century Punch cartoonist, who
depicted Irish people as violent simians, wished to have a dialogue about
Irish freedom!
Years of self-serving , imperialist interference in Arab affairs have had
disastrous consequences for the peoples of the Middle East, consequences
most dramatically demonstrated in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. It is
hardly surprising, therefore, if the Muslim world views these cartoons as
adding insult to injury. The Irish people, with their long experience of
colonial oppression, should understand that.
Caitlin ni Chonaill
Spokesperson
Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
c/o Centre for Global Education
9 University Street
Belfast
BT7 9FY.
===
Belfast Anti-Racist Network Statement on Blanket
On 12th March the online Belfast based magazine "The Blanket" became the
first publication in Ireland or Britain to republish the Dutch anti Muslim
cartoons that have sparked worldwide protests. The ARN together with
others, including the Islamic Centre and journalist Eamonn McCann had made
last minute appeals to the magazine's editor not to publish the cartoons.
ARN member Barbara Muldoon says "The cartoons are not just deeply offensive
to Muslims, they are deeply racist. One of the cartoons depicts the leader
of the Muslim faith with a bomb in his turban. This is clearly designed to
stereotype Muslims as terrorists. I am surprised that it is a magazine
that is concerned mainly with a discourse on Irish Republicanism that has
decided to republish these cartoons. Have people forgotten the racist anti
Irish cartoons that were published during the 1970s by newspapers such as
the daily Mail? These cartoons did nothing except stoke up racism against
Irish people and excuse the British government bringing in a whole raft of
repressive legislation against people here".
Ms Muldoon adds that those who say that this is a question of free speech
are missing the point. "Muslims all over the world are suffering dreadful
racism. Attacks on Muslims living in Ireland and Britain have shot up in
the wake of the publishing of these cartoons. We have seen the humiliation
of Muslim prisoners in Abu Ghraib and the force feeding of those who are
being held indefinitely in Guantanamo Bay. We have seen what is happening
in Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine. A young Brazilian man was shot in London
for looking like a Muslim. The world leaders who are responsible for this
are promoting an idea that Muslims require "civilising" by the West. These
cartoons do nothing more than promote that notion"
So far The Blanket has published one of the cartoons. They say that their
intention is to publish all twelve, one per issue. Ms Muldoon says "even
at this late stage we would ask the magazine to review this decision".
The ARN will host a meeting on the controversy surrounding the cartoons on
Thursday 23rd March 2006 at 7 pm in the Peter Froggatt Centre at Queens
University.
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